Sewing-machine needle.



G. E. MYERS. SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7. 1912.

1,131,854, Patented Mar.16,1915.

HE NORRIS PETERS 60.. FHuTc-UTHQ, WASHING roN, D. C

SEW'ING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters IEatent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Application filed October 7, 1912. Serial No. 724,362.

T all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, CHARLES E. citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of the city of Lebanon, in the county ofSt. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Sewing-Machine Needles, of which the follow ing is aspecification.

This invention relates to sewing machine needles and more particularlyto needles for sewing heavy material such as leather and the like.

It has for its principal objects to facilitate making a straight line ofstitches of regular formation; to prevent cutting and breaking of thethread; and to attain certain other advantages which will hereinaftermore fully appear.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of a needlesubstantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification andwherein like symbols refer to like parts whereever they occur, Figure lis a side View of a curved needle on an enlarged scale, showing anadaptation of the invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view looking at theopposite side of the needle; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section looking inthe same direction as in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a similar view looking in theopposite direction; Fig. 5 is a front view; Fig. 6 is a rear view; Fig.7 is a plan view of a piece of work sewed by an ordinary needle, the eyeof the needle being shown in cross-section; Fig. 8 is a similar view ofa piece of work sewed by a needle constructed and arranged according tothe present invention; Fig. 9 is a side view of a modification of aneedle embodying the present invention; Fig. 10 is a longitudinalsection of the modification; Fig. 11 is a view of the inner side of themodification. Fig. 12 is a cross-section through the eye of the needleshown in Figs. 1 to 6 and 9, 10 and 11; and Fig. 13 is a cross-sectionthrough the cut away portion above the eye of the needle shown in Figs.9, 10 and 11.

Referring first more particularly to Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, thearcuate needle therein shown has a pointed end 1, adjacent to which isan eye 2. Onthe outer or convex side of the needle is a groove 3 whichextends from the eye to a point in proximity to the shank portion 4. Theneedle is fur- MYnns, at

their provided with a notch or recess 5 on its inner side in the regionof the eye 2 and at the side of the eye away from which the worktravels. The half segment of the needle which is removed to form therecess 5 subtends an angle such that the recess is approximatelyquadrant shape in cross-see tion. The portion of the needle at the upperend of the eye and recess 5 is rounded and sloped off, as at 6; and theportion at the lower end is likewise shaped, as at 7.

The needle, as shown, is adapted for a machine having a rocking needlecarrier. A machine of such type is shown in Patent No. 1,016,898;granted to Savignac and Myers on February 6, 1912; and the awl is alsomounted on the rocking carrier thereof so as to feed the work as well.as puncture it for the passage of the needle therethrough.

The machine is particularly adapted for making a loop-locked stitch, theneedle carrying the stitching thread proper and the locking thread beingcarried by a loop forming and laying device.

The stitching thread is taken from some suitable source of supply andbrought down over a pulley or guide to the groove 3 of the needle andthreaded through the eye 2. The portion of the thread which is drawnthrough the eye of the needle is suitably held while the needle istraveling through the work to take a loop of the thread for the firststitch. For each subsequent stitch the thread is held by being securedin the preceding stitch. The stitches are set by a suitable take-updevice.

It has been found in actual practice that an ordinary needle causes thestitches to lie in a zig-zag or saw-tooth line, substantially as shownin Fig. 7. This kind of stitching, while tight at first, works somewhatloose after a time, because during wear of the stitched material thethread between the respective punctures tends to pull in a straight incand the two strands of the respective loops which originally overlap inthe punctures in planes transverse to the line of stitches are apt towork around until the stitches are in a substantially straight line. Bythe use of the needle herein set forth, the stitches are formedoriginally in a straightline substantially as shown in Fig. 8, and maybe drawn as tight as is desired.

l/Vhen the needle starts through the work the cutaway or notched portion5 allows the adjacent portion of the thread between the puncture and thepreceding stitch to pull in nearly a straight line, and as the portionof the needle at the upper end of the eye 2 and notch 5 is rounded orsloped off, as at 6, the body of the needle further wedges and forcesthe thread around so that the thread is pulled more nearly in a straightline. Then as the take-up device pulls the needle thread to set thestitch during the up stroke of the needle, the thread constituting thestitch just formed is drawn tight and in a line substantially straightthrough the centers of the punctures.

The thread which lies in the groove 3 is never wedged or pressed tightagainst the side of the puncture while the needle is moving through thework, and, therefore, that portion of the thread which is in the loop isreadily drawn over so as to be on a line through the middle of thepunctures by the needle as it descends for the next stitch.

A modification of the needle is shown in Figs. 9 to 11, inclusive. Thisneedle has a groove 8 on its inner side which extends upward from theeye 2 for a considerable distance, but is of shorter length than thegroove 3; and it is cutaway or recessed, as at 5 at the side of thegroove 8 away from which the work travels, and in continuation of thecutaway portion 5 of the first described needle shown in Figs. 1 to 6,inclusive. It is also tapered oil, as at 6*" and 7. Obviously, theneedle may be straight instead of curved, and it admits of considerablemodification without departing from the invention. Therefore, Ido notwish to be limited to the'constructions and arrangements shown.

Vi hat I claim is:

1. A sewing machine needle having an eye near its end, said eyeextending through the needle transversely to the direction in which thework travels; the needle also having a recess extending lengthwise ofthe needle in the region of its eye, a rib alongside the eye forming thefront wall of said recess, and the inner wall of said recess beingsubstantially onthe diameter of the needle parallel to the direction inwhich the work travels, said recess extending sidewise from the eyetoward the side of the needle away from which the work travels, wherebysaid needle is adapted to sew a straight line of stitches.

2. A sewing machine needle having an eye near its end, said eyeextending through the needle transversely to the direction in which thework travels; the needle also having a recess in the region of its eye,said recess being quadrant shape and extending circumferentially fromapproximately the Copies middle of one side of the needle which isparallel to the direction in which the work travels, to approximatelythe middle of the side away from which the Work travels, whereby thethread can leave said eye substantially in line with the line ofstitches being sewed. V

3. A sewing machine needle having an eye near its lower end, said eyeextending through the needle transversely to the direction in which thework travels; the needle also having a groove in one of its sides whichis parallel to the direction in which the work travels, said grooveextending longitudinally upward from said eye; the needle also having alongitudinally elongated recess in the region of its eye and in its sideopposite to that in which is said longitudinal groove, said recessextending laterally from the eye to the side of the needle away fromwhich the work travels whereby a longitudinal rib is left alongside saideye opposlte said recess.

1. A sewing machine needle having an eye near its lower end, said eyeextending through the needle transversely to the direction in which thework travels; the needle also having an angular recess-extendinglongitudinally upward from its eye in one of its sides which is parallelto the direction in which the work travels, said recess extendingcircumferentially from approximately the middle of the above mentionedside to approximately the middle of the side of the needle away fromwhich the work travels leaving a transverse rib alongside said eye andextending upwardly therefrom forming one side wall of said recess, andthe edge of the other side wall of said recess being rounded off,whereby said needle is adapted to sew a straight line of stitches.

5. An arcuate sewing machine needle having an eye near its end, said eyeextending through the needle in the plane of its axis; said needlehaving a groove 1n its outer curved side intersecting said eye and arecess in its inner curved side in the region of said eye, said recessbeing approximately quadrant shape and extending circumferentially fromapproximately the middle of saidinner curved side of the needle toapproximately the middle of one of the straight sides thereof, the edgeof the straight side bounding said recess being rounded off, wherebysaid needle is adapted to sew a straight line of stitches.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 1th day of October, 1912. 7

CHARLES E. MYERS;

Witnesses:

G. A. Pnnnmeron, PAULINE AMBnnG.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

